The Governor of the State of Tennessee is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the Executive branch, and the highest state office in Tennessee. The Governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two consecutive terms.

Vacancies

When the governorship is vacated less than 18 months into a term, the successor only serves until a special election is held at the next general election. More than 18 months into a term, the successor completes the remainder of the term.

Duties

The Governor is the head of the executive branch of Tennessee's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces (§ 5). The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the state constitution (§ 10).

The governor is also the keeper of the Great Seal of the State of Tennessee (§ 15).

Requiring written information from any officer of an executive department on any aspect of that officer's department or duties (§ 8)

Convening extraordinary sessions of the legislature, provided she proclaims the purposes and limitations of the special session when she calls it (§ 9)

Periodically addressing the General Assembly concerning the state of the state and making recommendations for legislation (§ 11)

Signing and sealing all commissions granted by the state of Tennessee (§ 16)

Vetoing bills and joint resolutions, subject to a majority override of the state legislature (§ 18)

Elections

Tennessee state government organizational chart

Tennessee elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not presidential election years. For Tennessee, 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030 and 2034 are all gubernatorial election years. Legally, the gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the third Saturday in the January following an election.

In the event of a tie or a contested election, a joint session of the legislature shall cast ballot to choose.

Tennessee is one of only three states, the others being Hawaii and New Jersey, where the Governor is the only statewide elected office.

A person may be eligible to succeed in office for additional four-year terms, provided that no person presently serving or elected hereafter shall be eligible for election to more than two terms consecutively, including an election to a partial term.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Tennessee State Governors from 1992-2013.

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Tennessee has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

2012

Historical officeholders

There have been 49 different governors of Tennessee since 1796. Counting those who served multiple, non-consecutive terms brings the total to 57, as reflected in the chart below. The breakdown of the 57 officeholders is as follows: 34 Democrats, 7 Democratic-Republicans, 6 Republicans, 3 Whigs, 2 Whig/Know-Nothing, 2 Republican/Whig, 1 Democratic/Opposition Party, 1 Democratic/Whig, and 1 Farm-Labor.[9]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, in Tennessee there were Democratic governors in office for 11 years while there were Republican governors in office for 11 years, including the last three. Tennessee was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Tennessee state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Tennessee experienced both Democratic and Republican trifectas during the years of the study. Its best ranking, finishing 21st, occurred in 2012 during a Republican trifecta. Its worst ranking, finishing 40th, occurred in 2004 during a Democratic trifecta.

SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 34.00

SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 23.00

SQLI average with divided government: 31.71

Chart displaying the partisanship of the Tennessee government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Recent news

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